[New post] Older People Are More Likely To Avoid Finding Out Information Like Genetic Disease Risk Or Spousal Infidelity

BPS Research Digest posted: " By Emma Young If proof of the existence or otherwise of a god-like deity was available, would you want to see it? What if you had access to a file that revealed whether your partner had ever been unfaithful? And would you take a new genetic test that " New post on Research Digest Older People Are More Likely To Avoid Finding Out Information Like Genetic Disease Risk Or Spousal Infidelity by BPS Research Digest By Emma Young If proof of the existence or otherwise of a god-like deity was available, would you want to see it? What if you had access to a file that revealed whether your partner had ever been unfaithful? And would you take a new genetic test that would indicate whether you have a mutation linked to an incurable disease? "All men, by nature, desire to know," wrote Aristotle, more than 2,000 years ago. In fact, as the authors of a new paper in Psychology and Aging point out, philosophers have long viewed people as having a thirst for knowledge, and a drive to resolve uncertainty. However, as Ralph Hertwig at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany and his colleagues also note, there are times when we prefer not to know the truth, and even bury our heads in the sand. Older people are often seen as being more prone to doing this. And the team's research now suggests that this is indeed the case: people aged over 51 were more likely than younger people to choose to remain ignorant of information that would have an emotional impact on them — perhaps a positive impact, but perhaps a negative one. Read more of this post BPS Research Digest | August 19, 2021 at 12:03 pm | Categories: Decision making, Developmental | URL: https://wp.me/p7Lf0f-bft Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Research Digest. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: https://digest.bps.org.uk/2021/08/19/older-people-are-more-likely-to-avoid-finding-out-information-like-genetic-disease-risk-or-spousal-infidelity/